Review: Linum SuperBaX

Disclaimer: Estron/Linum sent me the Linum SuperBax on loan in September already. I took it to Canjam Essen with me and I was supposed to give feedback and send it back but it’s still in my possession as the loan period was extended. Nathan will be joining in on the review. Double review!

Linum

I love custom inear monitors. I love good aftermarket cables. Not only for the sound but also for their looks. It was Cosmic Ears who introduced me to the Linum cables and now, well, now I love Linum cables. With most of my customs I use Linum cables and a lot of them even came with a Linum BaX cable preinstalled. The love for Linum is everywhere.

Linum® cables are designed and manufactured by Estron in Denmark who is market leader in wire and cable solutions for the hearing aid industry. The Linum cables are based on the ES-Linum 6+ cable which has 6 litz conductors made up of 7 individual strands. Each strand is silver plated copper with enamel. It will not corrode or change colour and their strength comes from aramid fibres. Pull strength is 60N ~ 13 Lb.

The Linum cables are very comfortable as they are extremely light (2.7gr), thin and flexible. Their design is minimalistic and they’re practically nonexistent for the user. They’re also very discrete as they are so hard to notice. Linum, from the beginning, has always stated the Linum series are tangle free but I wouldn’t really say that. If you store them correctly and use a cable tie after each use they indeed won’t tangle. Put them in your pocket, hard case or bag just like that and you’ll disagree. Linum even made a video about how to disconnect and store it (Watch demonstration.)

Microphonics are practically nonexistent and the Linum cables never turn green as they had UV treatment. I have all three versions of the Linum at home (Vocal – Music – BaX) but the one I enjoy most is the 1.5Ohm BaX cable as it has the best bass. Depending on the custom monitor in use I tend to switch between the original BaX and the 2.5mm TRRS balanced version. The balanced version has a more linear and clear presentation and the bass is less elevated compare to the BaX. The only thing I don’t really like about the Linum cables is their T2 connector as I had a cable or two with this termination malfunctioning. Well-functioning replacements were sent and all was quickly resolved by Cosmic Ears.

SuperBax

A few months ago Linum surprised us with a prototype called the SuperBaX in which Linum embraces all the feedback they have received since the first Linum BaX cable reached the market. Their aim with the Super BaX is to create a cable with less impedance that makes no impact on the music. The SuperBaX is a little bit thicker and has extra strength while it remains untangable. With the added thickness, the SuperBaX isn’t as comfortable as the original versions but it still is extremely comfortable compared to a lot of other (aftermarket) cables. The prototype in my possession only works with flush cable socket sockets as the connector simply is too big to plug in to recessed sockets.

Lieven is living in Europe and he's the leader of the gang. He's running Headfonia as a side project next to his full time day job in Digital Marketing & Consultancy. He's a big fan of tube amps and custom inear monitors and has published hundreds of product reviews over the years.

George Lai

I have the original first generation Linum as well as the second generation before Super Bax (I can’t keep track of their nomenclature). In total I have 4 and there is no doubt that no cable comes remotely close in terms of comfort. However I don’t know whether it’s because of the tropics where I live, but three of them have started oxidizing starting from the earpiece end. Surprisingly, my one and only T2 connector has no (connection) issues – the other 3 are 2-pins.

Linum

George Lai

Hi. Since that has apparently not happened before in your experience, I decided to examine them under a strong magnifying glass and a spotlight as I have old eyes. I choose to answer you here, though I will also email you separately, so that readers are not left with the wrong impression, as that would be misleading, and unfair. I only have one T2 and one first generation cable with me here in Singapore, the other two I have given away. As explained earlier, the T2 is fine. The other cable I can see now that the wire inside is actually okay but the plastic sheath for the first two inches or so from the earpieces have turned dark brown and I had wrongly attributed that to oxidation as I couldn’t manage to clean it away. I don’t think it affects the sound – old ears, old eyes. My apologies for the misleading original statement regarding your products.